TV Overnights: Dancing on Ice banks the Sunday night ratings

ITV1’s Dancing on Ice dominated the Sunday night ratings once again this weekend.

The celebrity show, which saw the 11 remaining hopefuls try to impress the judges and their fellow skaters in a bid to stay in the competition, attracted a high of more than 8.2 million viewers and a 27.6% share between 6.30pm and 8.30pm.

At 8.30pm, Wild at Heart continued with 6.7 million viewers and a 23.9% average share, before The Skate Off pulled in 6.6 million viewers and a 25.4% share between 9.30pm and 10.05pm.

ITV1 also secured the peak ratings during the afternoon slot with its coverage of the Live FA Cup Football. The Notts County v Manchester City game achieved an average audience of 2.8 million average viewers and a 20.9% share between 1.30pm and 4.25pm, peaking with almost 4 million viewers at 3.30pm.

On BBC One, the Australian Open Tennis scored a high of 4.3 million viewers (and a 36.8% average overall audience share) during the morning slot, while Antiques Roadshow seemed a popular choice among viewers at 6pm (5.6 million viewers).

The Tennis also banked 1.2 million viewers on Saturday, while BBC One’s Live Athletics coverage pulled in 1.3 million viewers between 2pm and 4.30pm.

Sports content continued to dominate the ratings well in to the evening, with ITV1’s Southampton v Manchester United game attracting 5.7 million peak viewers and a 22.4% average share between 4.45pm and 7.20pm.

However, BBC One’s prime time schedule took over from 7.15pm onwards. The Magicians secured 5.7 million viewers; the National Lottery won 6.6 million viewers and Casualty peaked with 6.1 million viewers.

ITV1’s Saturday night schedule failed to keep up with BBC One, though Primeval picked up more than 3 million average viewers, Take Me Out pulled in 3.6 million viewers and Benidorm banked 2.5 million.

Meanwhile, The Million Pound Drop provided Channel 4’s biggest ratings hit of the weekend – peaking with more than 3 million viewers at 9.45pm on Saturday.

Overnight data is available each morning in mediatel.co.uk’s TV Database, with all BARB registered subscribers able to view reports for terrestrial networks and key multi-channel stations.